Guitars in the Classroom transforms education and promotes student achievement and well-being through making music during and beyond the normal school day in general and music classrooms. We train, equip and encourage teachers to integrate and lead music with “The Three S’s” (Singing, Songwriting and Strumming) in every subject area. Using guitars and ukuleles, teachers design and lead standards-based academic lessons that include songs for learning as a powerful teaching strategy across the Pk-12 academic curriculum. Teachers also learn to lead music making to build classroom community and promote a sense of “belonging” and to nurture the development of character and citizenship. Our work also increases student competence in “The Four C’s” of Common Core education (Creativity, Communication, Collaboration and Critical Thinking.)

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http://aquilacorde.com/projects/4769/playing-for-change/?lang=en/feed/0AQUILA UKULELE STRINGS NAMM 2015http://aquilacorde.com/news-and-events/4731/aquila-ukulele-strings-namm-2015/?lang=en/
http://aquilacorde.com/news-and-events/4731/aquila-ukulele-strings-namm-2015/?lang=en/#commentsFri, 30 Jan 2015 15:43:28 +0000http://www.aquilacorde.com/?p=4731UU headed over to the 2015 NAMM Show, the largest and greatest gathering of music merchants to check out what everyone in the ukulele…

A grey-black string colored with a touch of mother-of-pearl inspired by “volcanic rocks”.

Our Lava Series®, naturally inspired by volcano, an hawaiian symbol of new life, is our respectful homage to the hawaiian people who made the ukulele worldwide famous and share their happiness with thousand of people all around the world.

The Lava Series® strings maintain the same identical mechanical and sound propieties of our famous white-pearl Supernylgut® ukulele strings.

HV gut (varnished gut strings)

INTRODUCTION

The origin of the employment of gut to make musical strings is lost in the mists of time. Along the centuries manufacturing techniques were gradually refined until they reached the perfection unanimously recognized as the trademark of Italian and French stringmakers in the 17th to 19th century.
The scope of our work, supported by constant research and painstaking experimentation, is to offer natural gut strings produced by modern craftsmen working in the ancient Italian/French string-makers manufacturing criteria that for centuries has been passed on from one generation to the next, sure to offer you the very best of our tradition and aiming to reach the magic of sound that only gut, of all materials, can achieve.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS AND FIELD OF APPLICATION

First choice plain gut strings for general use in high and mid registers. All strings more than 0.50 mm. in diameter are exclusively high twist and undergo a specific processing aiming to ensure maximum elasticity and grant the best acoustical performance, ease of attack and long playing life, as proven by many acoustics and wear-and-tear tests.

Varnished strings ( HV type)

Polished varnished gut strings which merge the best of our knowledge of the early string making tradition field and modern treatments aimed to improve stability to climate changes and string durability. These strings have a varnished surface. The varnish we used does not come as casualty but as the result of a careful selection to ensure perfect compatibility with the elasticity of the gut, a perfect contact with the hairs of your bow , maximum protection to mechanical wear, to crease and stability to humidity changes.

Demi-rectified strings (HR type)
The surface of the demi- rectified strings is only partly rectified, imitating the manual polishing techique of the time just to obtain a true string.
With this method the amount of fibers damaged by the abrasive action is noticeably reduced as compared with strings rectified with modern procedures. The advantages are: better stability against climatic changes, longer playing life and better acoustic performance.
We tested these strings for a long time: they best imitate historic hand- polishing in that they damage only a small amount of gut fibers as compared with current rectifying methods.The advantages are:
an improved stability by climatic changes, longer playing life (similar to those of the vernished ones) and superior acoustical performance.
Owing to the special manufacturing technique employed in the production of the demi-rectified string type, the diameters in this table indicate a mean value.
E.g. a 66 string indicates, in fact, a possible diameter-window between 65 and 67.

IMPORTANT

Gut is liable to suffer from cutting edges. Before stringing the instrument do make sure the nut and bridge are free from sharp edges and the nut grooves not too deep and perfectly smooth.
You can get rid of sharp edges with very fine grit sandpaper (600, for example) or the finest steelwool (000).
The best sound quality develops when the strings have completely set, which may ordinarily take sometime. To achieve a stable intonation in just a few minutes you can repeatedly pinch each string at midlength with your fingers, pull it decidedly sideways and tune it up again. Stop when the string does not pull out of tune anymore.

For more information

PRICES FOR HV GUT

NOTE: gauges are expressed in hundred of millimeters (i.e. 120 = 1,20 mm) gut gauges on the tables are considered at the making standard condition of 20 ° C and 60 % degree of humidity.

CODE

Lenght 120 cmeuros excluding IVA / VAT / TAV (except UE customers)

Lenght 180 cm euros excluding IVA / VAT / TAV (except UE customers)

CODE

Lenght 120 cm euros excluding IVA / VAT / TAV (except UE customers)

Lenght 180 cm euros excluding IVA / VAT / TAV (except UE customers)

38 HV

4,60

/

116 HV

14,90

31,50

40 HV

4,60

/

120 HV

16,80

35,50

42 HV

4,60

/

124 HV

16,80

35,50

44 HV

4,60

/

128 HV

16,80

35,50

46 HV

5,00

/

132 HV

16,80

35,50

48 HV

5,00

/

136 HV

19,10

35,50

50 HV

5,00

/

140 HV

19,10

38,20

52 HV

5,00

/

145 HV

19,10

38,20

54 HV

5,90

/

150 HV

19,10

38,20

56 HV

5,90

/

155 HV

19,10

38,20

58 HV

5,90

/

160 HV

20,90

41,70

60 HV

6,20

11,70

165 HV

20,90

41,70

62 HV

6,20

14,60

170 HV

20,90

41,70

64 HV

7,70

14,60

180 HV

24,00

48,30

66 HV

7,70

14,60

190 HV

26,90

53,80

68 HV

7,70

14,60

200 HV

26,90

53,80

70 HV

7,70

17,10

210 HV

31,40

62,50

73 HV

7,70

17,10

220 HV

31,40

62,50

76 HV

9,20

17,10

230 HV

31,40

62,50

79 HV

9,20

17,10

240 HV

34,40

68,70

82 HV

9,20

17,10

250 HV

34,40

68,70

85 HV

9,20

19,10

260 HV

34,40

68,70

88 HV

9,20

19,10

280 HV

42,90

86,00

91 HV

11,60

19,10

300 HV

42,90

86,00

94 HV

11,60

19,10

320 HV

47,80

89,70

97 HV

11,60

19,10

340 HV

47,80

89,70

100 HV

11,60

19,10

400 HV

/

94,10

104 HV

11,60

28,10

420 HV

/

98,90

108 HV

11,60

28,10

440 HV

/

103,60

112 HV

14,90

31,50

460 HV

/

110,60

Gallery

]]>http://aquilacorde.com/early-music-strings/early-music-products/4595/hv-gut-varnished-gut-strings/?lang=en/feed/0AQUILA STRINGS SUPPORT THE UKULELE ORCHESTRA OF GREAT BRITAINhttp://aquilacorde.com/news-and-events/4570/aquila-strings-support-the-ukulele-orchestra-of-great-britain/?lang=en/
http://aquilacorde.com/news-and-events/4570/aquila-strings-support-the-ukulele-orchestra-of-great-britain/?lang=en/#commentsTue, 23 Dec 2014 16:12:52 +0000http://www.aquilacorde.com/?p=4570AQUILA STRINGS WILL PROUDLY SUPPORT THE UPCOMING TOUR OF THE UKULELE ORCHESTRA OF GREAT BRITAIN BY STRINGING THEIR UKES!

]]>http://aquilacorde.com/news-and-events/4570/aquila-strings-support-the-ukulele-orchestra-of-great-britain/?lang=en/feed/0HV & HT TYPEhttp://aquilacorde.com/early-music-strings/4533/hv-ht-type/?lang=en/
http://aquilacorde.com/early-music-strings/4533/hv-ht-type/?lang=en/#commentsFri, 12 Dec 2014 16:20:29 +0000http://aquilacorde.com/?p=4533HV type
Polished varnished gut strings which merge the best of our knowledge of the early string making tradition field and modern treatments aimed to improve stability to climate changes and string durability. These strings have a varnished surface. The varnish we used does not come as casualty but as the result of a careful selection to ensure perfect compatibility with the elasticity of the gut, a perfect contact with the hairs of your bow , maximum protection to mechanical wear, to crease and stability to humidity changes.

The HV type string will be replacing our HT type strings by default starting from January 1st 2015.

HT Type
The HT type strings have a polished and surface and are treated with olive oil for a better result in stability and maintenance of the string. These strings are available until we run out of stock.

RUBINO series

CLASSICAL GUITAR RUBINO SETS

A unique look and a strong, consistent sound.

Until now, it was necessary to increase a string’s gauge to reach lower frequencies. But increasing the string’s diameter also increases the internal dampening. That makes the string less bright, less responsive and more muffled:

the thicker the string, the duller the sound. Our revolutionary new approach —never introduced before us— changes the specific weight of the material, increasing it progressively to leave the gauges almost unchanged as possible is.

The result is amazing: the instrument sounds brighter, more powerful and more responsive through the entire range of the fretboard. The strings also maintain their intonation better (because thicker strings need to be fretted harder, pulling them farther out of tune).

Until now, this result was reached only with harps, where the scale of the strings is continuously varied.

THE RUBINO SERIES sets provide superior performance over traditional strings for musicians who love clear, sharp sounds and powerful voicing across the full scale of the instrument.

You never heard a sound like this before, simply because before it did not exist.

Thanks to our friend Paolo Pilo for his review of our Rubino strings on www.accordo.it

Lava Series®

LAVA SERIES® UKULELE SETS

Aquila Strings proudly presents the NEW LAVA SERIES® ukulele strings.

A grey-black string colored with a touch of mother-of-pearl inspired by “volcanic rocks”.

Our Lava Series®, naturally inspired by volcano, an hawaiian symbol of new life, is our respectful homage to the hawaiian people who made the ukulele worldwide famous and share their happiness with thousand of people all around the world.

The Lava Series® strings maintain the same identical mechanical and sound propieties of our famous white-pearl Supernylgut® ukulele strings.

Until now, it was necessary to increase a string’s gauge to reach lower frequencies. But increasing the string’s diameter also increases the internal dampening. That makes the string less bright, less responsive and more muffled:

the thicker the string, the duller the sound. Our revolutionary new approach —never introduced before us— changes the specific weight of the material, increasing it progressively to leave the gauges almost unchanged as possible is.

The result is amazing: the instrument sounds brighter, more powerful and more responsive through the entire range of the fretboard. The strings also maintain their intonation better (because thicker strings need to be fretted harder, pulling them farther out of tune).

Until now, this result was reached only with harps, where the scale of the strings is continuously varied.

THE RUBINO SERIES sets provide superior performance over traditional strings for musicians who love clear, sharp sounds and powerful voicing across the full scale of the instrument.

You never heard a sound like this before, simply because before it did not exist.

Thanks to our friend Paolo Pilo for his review of our Rubino strings on www.accordo.it

SUPERNYLGUT® sets: enjoy your playing with a superb new look and a better sound performance. We are proud to launch the upgraded version of our famous Nylgut® strings: the Supernylgut ukulele string have a charming natural pearl color and a very smooth and polished surface feels like wax. So pleasant for your eyes and for your fingers! They are also less stretchy than any previous Nylgut® version , this resulting in a faster setting to proper tune when new and in a tendency of easily maintaining the intonation when reached. On top of this, Supernylgut® is stronger and does not suffer from sharp edges of the nuts, marks from frets or hard nail playing. And you can get all these upgrades together with the wonderful richness of tone which made our Nylgut® a success! Amazing! The low g sets come with our innovative Red Series fourth string, not with a wound one! » See product

]]>http://aquilacorde.com/news-and-events/new-products-2014/4026/new-product-2014-super-nylgut/?lang=en/feed/0Even in Paraguay drinkable water with our device for the production of bleachhttp://aquilacorde.com/projects/other-projects/3863/anche-in-paraguay-acqua-potabile-con-il-nostro-dispositivo-per-la-produzione-di-varechina/?lang=en/
http://aquilacorde.com/projects/other-projects/3863/anche-in-paraguay-acqua-potabile-con-il-nostro-dispositivo-per-la-produzione-di-varechina/?lang=en/#commentsThu, 24 Apr 2014 19:37:34 +0000http://www.aquilacorde.com/?p=3863

]]>http://aquilacorde.com/projects/other-projects/3863/anche-in-paraguay-acqua-potabile-con-il-nostro-dispositivo-per-la-produzione-di-varechina/?lang=en/feed/0Visiting to the Stringmaker Mimmo Peruffohttp://aquilacorde.com/blog/3789/visiting-master-gut-string-maker-mimmo-peruffo/?lang=en/
http://aquilacorde.com/blog/3789/visiting-master-gut-string-maker-mimmo-peruffo/?lang=en/#commentsMon, 14 Apr 2014 15:16:30 +0000http://www.aquilacorde.com/?p=3789On Wednesday, January 23, 2013, I drove from Florence to Vicenza to meet again with master Gut-string maker, Mimmo Peruffo. I had visited him in June as well when we had calculated and identified the strings for the Rabab made on the specifications of Guru Arjan Dev Ji’s 16th century Rabab. I had made pair of those, one of which was made for my student, Harbhajan Kaur of Millis, MA, while the other, which is yet to be varnished, will be in the collection of Anad Foundation and most probably played by Luigi Hari Tehel Singh. The Rabab I carried with me was the replica of the late 17th century Rabab of Ustad Basat Khan, which was in the collection of the legendary Sarod player, Radhika Mohan Moitra. This collection is being cared for by his youngest disciple, Somjit Dasgupta, who was also featured in the first usa online casino ever publication (2005) of theDhrupadi or Hindustani Rabab published by Anad Records Pvt. Ltd.

Years ago, when I had visited Mimmo Peruffo the first time, I had carried a lot of samples of the gut-strings made by him. I had tested quite a few on the Rabab but it was now time to establish what will be the standard suggested stringing. The instrument is sounding fabulous now – the sound is much larger than it was before and it is now tuned to D#.

I was accompanied by Banipreet Kaur from Australia who documented the visit on her camera while cameraman Jasbir Singh joined us form Vicenza where he had been visiting his family friends after the 34th January Gurbani Kirtan intensive retreat. Here are some glimpses of the visit taken by Banipreet Kaur and a few by yours truly.

Unpacking the Rababa.

Luigi Hari Tehel Singh’s handiwork..!

The calculations begin with Mimmo Peruffo

Mimmo checking the strings being currently used by Luigi.

Guts can produce art work and not mere music – Aristotle by Mimmo Peruffo..!

It is a fine line – choosing the right thickness for the right tautness.

Tuning…

“How the heck can you do that..?”

Mimmo loved the sound of the strings – it is interesting that our babies are married to each other; my handcrafted Rababa and his handmade gut-strings..!

Finding solutions for he did not have any stock of a particular kind of gut-string, which he discontinued two years ago – a pity..!

The right tension..?

Final instructions for the artisan from Morocco.

Metal wound gut-string being made.

What precision..!

It isn’t just art but a lot of science but isn’t art science and science art..?

I wasn’t glad with the round wound – Mimmo tries flattening with metal mesh – it sort of worked but I have to continue to look for the right solution.

One jitters when mounting the first string..!

The new strings needed wider passages.

Manual flattening of the sixth string being attempted.

Drilling the holes wider.

Mimmo’s chance to see me at work.

After the gut-string guide has been widened, the holes needed similar fate.

Widening the holes in concerned knobs.

Stringing the sixth…

It is not just the tuning of a new string but so much more.

Banipreet Kaur got a guided tour of the gut-string making facility.

Early stages of production – Mimmo has recipes since the 12th century onwards..!